Product Shots.

[rich29488]

I am a offset printer and occasionally need to do product shots. I have been using my cheap little $200 camera but it just does not cut it. At the highest resolution I can only do 6 shots before the memory fills.

Now I am looking to move up to a real camera. I use to do film shots but not professionally. I want to spend no more than $500 and I need something that will provide me enough resolution to run a minimum of 400 dots inch.

Also I will need to know what lighting to use to do the best product shots. Most of the time the customers want me to shoot in a dungeon so I will need to bring my lighting with me.

thanks for any advice given.

[rdenney]

I am a offset printer and occasionally need to do product shots. I have been using my cheap little $200 camera but it just does not cut it. At the highest resolution I can only do 6 shots before the memory fills.

Now I am looking to move up to a real camera. I use to do film shots but not professionally. I want to spend no more than $500 and I need something that will provide me enough resolution to run a minimum of 400 dots inch.

Also I will need to know what lighting to use to do the best product shots. Most of the time the customers want me to shoot in a dungeon so I will need to bring my lighting with me.


"400 dots/inch" isn't helpful if we don't know what size the image will be. And can your offset process really make use of 400 pixels/inch? If you use a 133 or 150-line screen with process color, I'll bet you would have a hard time telling the difference between 240 and 300, let alone 400. Most slick magazines want 300 pixels/inch at their finished image size.

If your catalog images are 8 inches wide and 5 inches tall (half page), then you'll need (300 times 5 =) 1500 x 2300 pixels (if 3:2 aspect ratio). That's 3.5 megapixels, so any 4-megapixel digital camera should do fine. If you want to print it at 8x11 and 300 pixels/inch, then you'll need 2400x3600 pixels, or 8 megapixels. And if you want to do a two-page spread, forget digital for now and use film.

4-megapixel digicams are relatively inexpensive and within your budget, but make sure it will focus close enough. Test it at the camera store to be sure. If you need the 8 megapixel camera, then the closest you'll get to your target is a Canon Digital Rebel XT (aka 350D).

If you go with a camera that takes interchangeable lenses, then I would go ahead and spend a bit more an get the 50mm Compact Macro lens. That lens will be critically sharp so that your full-page images will be limited by the print process and not by the glass. Consider that for ad shots that size, most photographers use thousands of dollars worth of medium or large format equipment. Even with memory cards and batteries, I'm not spending more than three times your budget, heh, heh.

As for lighting, most product shots are done with highly diffuse lighting from above the product. The more diffuse the light source, the less shadow lines will interfere with the image. A good table-top product studio would include a white backdrop that would drape down behind and underneath the product, with a large lighted area just above the product. I use a 48" shoot-through umbrella with a studio flash behind it, but even a clamp-on work light will work instead of the flash. A cheapie 48" shoot-through umbrella is translucent and doesn't cost more than about $50. Bring it down to just above the top of the frame. You'll like the results of that. There are also light tents designed just for product photography, but they cost more and have less flexibility. A "hot light" is better than a flash if you are using a digicam with no flash synch plug, and if you are trying to cut costs. It's also easier to see what you have. Don't use the flash on the camera, ever. It will reflect off the product and create glare and specular highlights righ in the middle of every curved surface. The color of the light is not an issue with most digital cameras--they have white balance correction. But if you get a digicam (as opposed to a "real camera"), make sure it allows white balance settings and that you can turn off the built-in flash.

Believe me, you'll want a tripod. Figure $100 for one that is adequate. You'll need to use a smaller lens aperture (larger number) to get the whole product sharp, and that will mean longer shutter speeds. Tripods make that possible.

Personally, I think a Digital Rebel XT with a 50mm macro lens is about the cheapest I'd consider for decent product photography that won't hurt your business. It's consumer-level stuff but it has a very high performance/price ratio. But it exceeds your $500 budget considerably.

Rick "who has a bit of experience shooting for process printing" Denney

[Moments]

Seems like your being asked for low budget work. Being a printer, what size files do you like to work with? Start there and see what file size you would need. You and your client get will get what you and they paid for. Don't wish to be blunt, but I have seen many printers /separators decide to go into the product photography buisness, and have brought the value of product photography down. I know you will say, "My clients don't have a lot of money to spend", but it does cost real money to do product photography right. I tend to say, stick with what you know and specialize in.

[tim]

thanks for any advice given.

Hire a professional. I'm not kidding here, find a professional or an advanced amateur who has the gear and the knowledge to do the job right. Depending on the subject and situation you could need many thousands of dollars worth of gear to do the job really well.

[PhotosGuy]

I put some extremly simple lighting tuts here that might help:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66140